Department for Transport

Roads: Accidents

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people have been killed or seriously injured in road traffic incidents in Kent in each year since 2010; and how many and what proportion of those were under the age of 18.

Baroness Kramer: The number of people who were killed or seriously injured (known as KSI casualties) in reported personal injury road traffic accidents in Medway Council and Kent County Council each year from 2010 to 2013 is provided in the table below. The table also includes how many of the casualties were under the age of 18.Local Authority Year All KSIKSI casualties Percentage of KSIcasualtiesunder 18 years old that were under 18 years old Medway Council2010591932%Medway Council201164914%Medway Council201251816%Medway Council201356916%Kent County Council20105459718%Kent County Council20115197615%Kent County Council20125247514%Kent County Council20135947012% Statistics for 2014 will be available in June 2015.

Railways: East Midlands

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, to provide for future electrification, they intend to immunise the new signalling equipment when the railway line between Nottingham, Newark and Lincoln is re-signalled by 2019.

Baroness Kramer: The specification of signalling equipment that is placed on the network is for Network Rail to decide. It is not a role for Government. There are no funded plans to electrify this route and the rail industry has not identified electrification of the route as an investment priority.

Large Goods Vehicles: Road Traffic Offences

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Lord Popat on 5 March (HL Deb, col 431) that enforcement of the law relating to HGVs in London involved 4,000 targeted stops resulting in the issuing of 2,000 roadworthiness prohibitions and more than 1,000 fixed penalty notices, detection of 1,500 drivers’ offences and seizure of over 50 vehicles, how many of those offences resulted in court appearances of the drivers or transport managers of the firms concerned; how many were fined; and how many received custodial sentences.

Baroness Kramer: The imposition of a fixed penalty notice is a fixed tariff fine that provides an appropriate forfeit without the need for incurring the cost of a court appearance. So all of the fixed penalty notices represent fines. Likewise the roadworthiness prohibitions imposed all require a fee to be paid to remove them in addition to any cost incurred to address the faults that caused vehicle to be subjected to the embargo. The Department for Transport has not collected specific figures for court appearances and sentences related to offences detected by the taskforce.

Railways: Lancashire

Lord Hoyle: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why Network Rail took the decision to close Rawlinson Lane, Chorley Road and Grimeford Lane in Adlington, Lancashire, at the same time to accommodate electrification of the Manchester to Preston via Bolton and Chorley line.

Baroness Kramer: Network Rail took the decision to close the roads simultaneously in order to coordinate with the railway closures. These kinds of closures are planned up to two years in advance. In this area Network Rail had five bridges to rebuild and two possession slots; the intention was to split the bridge rebuilding over two years, doing two in 2014 and three in 2015. Due to environmental impacts identified at Grimeford Lane last year that particular bridge was rescheduled from the original plan to be completed this year.

Railways: Lancashire

Lord Hoyle: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the latest date that each bridge in Adlington, Lancashire, could reopen.

Baroness Kramer: Grimeford Lane will be re-opened by the end of week commencing 16 March. The dates of closure for the other roads at present are in accordance with the following programme:- Chorley Road – (skew bridge) full closure from 26 January – 19 June 2015 - Rawlinson Lane – full closure from 5 January – 22 May 2015 - Station Road, Blackrod – full closure from 2 February – 15 May 2015.

Driving under Influence

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the expenditure on the Department for Transport's drink driving campaigns in (1) 2010, (2) 2011, (3) 2012, (4) 2013, and (5) 2014.

Baroness Kramer: Expenditure on the Department’s THINK! Road Safety don’t drink and drive campaign for the last four financial years is listed below. Drink Driving campaignExpenditure2010-11£381,9462011-12£524,2652012-13£2,633,3442013-14£1,057,632

Driving under Influence

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have asked their partners in the Public Health Responsibility Deal to contribute towards the costs of the Department for Transport's drink driving campaigns; if not, why not; and whether they have considered doing this for the 2015 drink driving campaign.

Baroness Kramer: We have not sought funding from any of the Public Health Responsibility Deal partners but a number of them do already support our drink drive campaign in other ways. Our aim is to develop partnerships with brands who can provide in-context solutions or ‘nudges’ to help drivers avoid alcohol if they are driving, or to help those people who are drinking get home safely without driving. These initiatives are all completely funded by the partner. One example is Coca Cola, who for several years have run a designated driver campaign, rewarding designated drivers with a buy-one-get-one-free offer on coke drinks in thousands of venues during the festive season. Last year we developed a new partnership with drinks company Diageo. They supported our campaign by using their Johnnie Walker ambassadors, Formula 1 drivers Jenson Button and Kevin Magnusson, to ask drivers to take a pledge to never drink and drive, in return for discounted taxi rides. We also work closely with drinks company AB InBev. Their Budweiser Designated Driver campaign, promotes and celebrates the important role of designated driver. We will continue to seek further partnerships with commercial brands who can extend the reach and impact of our campaigns.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Higher Education: Europe

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the new application process to European universities; what consideration they have given to how attractive the lack of tuition fees at European universities might seem to young people in the United Kingdom; what consideration they have given to the possible consequences of such competition on Scottish universities; and what financial incentives they will give British students to either completely or partially study for degrees in Britain or return to the United Kingdom to work after graduation.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: This is a matter for UCAS, (University and Colleges Admissions Service) as a body formed by the universities themselves independent from the Government. UCAS have said that the new service will provide extra choice for students and UCAS' rigorous scrutiny of European Universities applying to use the service will ensure they demonstrate that they meet equivalent standards to those in the UK. Many home students already choose to study abroad by applying directly to particular universities.   Data from UCAS for 2014 showed that applications to higher education in England are at an all-time high. Record numbers of students were accepted for entry: for the first time ever over half a million applicants were placed in higher education. The percentage of 18 year olds who were accepted for entry to higher education in England is the highest ever at 30.4%.  The consequences for Scottish universities are matters for the Scottish parliament.

Higher Education: Bereavement Counselling

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that adequate bereavement support is available in universities.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Universities are independent bodies and Government does not intervene in their day to day management. Whilst higher education is an adult environment it is a long-established principle that universities have a duty of care to their students. As such they will determine what welfare and counselling services they need to offer their students.

Department for International Development

Democratic Republic of Congo

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent discussions they have had with the donor co-ordination group for the Democratic Republic of the Congo with regard to providing funding for the forthcoming local, provincial and general elections in 2015 and 2016 in that country.

Baroness Northover: DFID has been in close and continuous discussion with the donor co-ordination group on the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We have discussed specifically how to coordinate support to civic education and local observation. Alongside other partners we are also engaged in an on-going discussion with the United Nations Development Programme who have prepared a new programme to support the electoral cycle. We have also participated actively in the MONUSCO-led discussions on support to elections.

West Africa: Ebola

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the impact of International Monetary Fund programmes on the ebola crisis, in the light of the recent article in the Lancet on the subject.

Baroness Northover: The UK is the first country to announce its contribution of $50million to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Catastrophe Containment and Relief (CCR) trust to relieve the burden of debt caused by the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.   The CCR trust is expected to provide grants-for-debt relief of $100million for the three countries most affected by the ongoing Ebola epidemic: Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. These countries will be able to access funds to cover upcoming repayments to the IMF for two years, allowing them to redirect those resources to fighting the outbreak, restoring services and reinvigorating the economy.   In addition, the IMF have provided further funding through their existing programmes in the region bringing their total financial contribution to the Ebola outbreak to date to $349million.

International Assistance

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government who will represent them at the forthcoming International Conference on Financing for Development to be held on 13 to 16 July 2015, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Baroness Northover: The Financing for Development Conference will provide an important contribution to the post-2015 development agenda, thus supporting its implementation.   Details of who will be attending this conference on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government will be finalised in the next parliament.

Ministry of Defence

EU Defence Policy

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the statement by the President of the European Commission Mr Jean-Claude Juncker that the European Union should have its own army; whether the statement was approved by the European Council; and whether they will renew their opposition to such a policy.

Lord Astor of Hever: Mr Juncker's statement was not approved by the EU Member States. The UK remains firmly opposed to centralised EU command or control over military forces, which remains a Member State competence, and has successfully kept the EU focused on strengthening its co-operation with NATO which holds primacy in defence matters. The Prime Minister made this clear at the December 2013 European Council where strengthened EU-NATO partnership was agreed to be one of the key deliverables. It will be raised again as a fundamental agenda item at the June 2015 European Council where EU Member States will look for ways to further enhance collaboration between the two institutions. The Government's views on this matter have been consistent and transparent and any attempt to form an 'EU army' would be blocked by the UK. We will continue to emphasise our views to partners and will remain vigilant on the issue.

Military Aircraft

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, from 2009–10 to the latest year for which data are available, what was the annual number of hours flown by (1) Typhoon, (2) Tornado GR4, (3) Chinook, (4) Merlin Mk3, (4) C-130J, (5) C-17, (6) Apache, and (7) Merlin Mk1/2, aircraft.

Lord Astor of Hever: Flying hours for financial years 2009-10 onwards are provided in the table below.  2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-14Typhoon9,8909,98014,03015,35016,970Tornado GR417,94020,48021,14016,79015,040Chinook15,46016,36017,24014,81013,950Merlin Mk3/3a6,4906,6107,2406,9005,520Apache17,06018,29018,29016,66015,340Merlin Mk1/26,4607,0305,9206,3405,960Figures are rounded to the nearest 10  For the C-130 and C-17 fleets I refer the noble Lord to the answer I gave him on 22 October 2014 (Official Report, column WA84).  



Hansard Extract 22 October 2014
(Word Document, 43.5 KB)

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which of the following vehicle types are still in service with the British Army and what were or are their anticipated out of service dates: Challenger 2, Driver Track Training Vehicle, Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicles, Trojan, Titan, Warrior, Saxon, Samson, Spartan, Scimitar, Samaritan, Sultan, Snatch Land Rover, FV430, Mastiff, Jackal, Vector, Bulldog, and Panther.

Lord Astor of Hever: The out of service dates of the vehicles specified are as follows:  Vehicle TypePlanned Out Of Service DateChallenger 22025Driver Track Training Vehicle2025Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle2040Trojan2040Titan2040Warrior2025SaxonOut of serviceSamson2026Spartan2026Scimitar2026Samaritan2026Sultan2026Snatch Land Rover (1, 1.5, 2 and Vixen variants)Out of serviceSnatch Land Rover (2A and 2B variants)2024Snatch Land Rover (Vixen Plus variant)2024FV 430Out of serviceMastiff2024Jackal2030Vector2015Bulldog2030Panther2037

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated development cost for the Common Base Platform of the Scout family of military vehicles.

Lord Astor of Hever: The Scout Specialist Vehicle (SV) contract will provide 589 vehicles in six variants based on the Common Base Platform design concept. The contract with General Dynamics UK for the development of these vehicles amounts to £601 million (excluding VAT).

Defence: Expenditure

Lord Radice: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) the United Kingdom has spent on defence in each of the last five years; and under present medium-term plans what percentage of GDP defence expenditure is expected to be over the next five years.

Lord Astor of Hever: The percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) the United Kingdom has spent on Defence in each of the last five years, is shown below.Financial Year% of GDP spent on Defence2009 - 102.6%2010 - 112.6%2011 - 122.6%2012 - 132.3%2013 - 142.1%The United Kingdom expects to spend 2% of GDP on Defence this year and next year. Decisions for 2016-17 and beyond will be a matter for the next Spending Review.

EU Defence Policy

Lord Rogan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their response to European Commission President Juncker's call for the formation of a European Union army.

Lord Astor of Hever: Mr Juncker's statement was not approved by the EU Member States. The UK remains firmly opposed to centralised EU command or control over military forces, which remains a Member State competence, and has successfully kept the EU focused on strengthening its co-operation with NATO which holds primacy in defence matters.The Prime Minister made this clear at the December 2013 European Council where strengthened EU-NATO partnership was agreed to be one of the key deliverables. It will be raised again as a fundamental agenda item at the June 2015 European Council where EU Member States will look for ways to further enhance collaboration between the two institutions.The Government ' s views on this matter have been consistent and transparent and any attempt to form an 'EU army' would be blocked by the UK. We will continue to emphasise our views to partners and will remain vigilant on the issue.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Poultry: Animal Welfare

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord De Mauley on 9 December 2013 (WA 80), whether Italy and Greece remain non-compliant with the European Union's 2012 conventional hen cage ban; what the result was of the referral of those countries to the European Court of Justice; when formal hearings on the matter were held; and whether they have sought further meetings with the relevant European Union Commissioner to discuss the issue.

Lord De Mauley: No further information has been provided by the Commission in terms of progress towards compliance in these two Member States. As a first step in the infraction process, both Italy and Greece were taken to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failing to comply with the cage ban. The Court found Italy (in May 14) and Greece (in September 14) guilty and ordered them to pay court costs. If Italy and Greece do not provide evidence of full compliance after a ‘reasonable time’ (determined on a case by case basis), the Commission can take them both back to the ECJ where penalties could be imposed.   The Commission does not disclose detailed information relating to on-going infringement cases.

Home Office

Immigration Controls

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the latest net migration figures, what is their assessment of the United Kingdom’s ability to control immigration numbers in the context of European Union and international rules and interventions.

Lord Bates: The immigration system we inherited was open to abuse and gave little consideration to whether migrants could support themselves or contribute to the UK when they arrived. This Government has reformed the immigration system by tackling abuse of student visas, cutting access to benefits and closing visa routes for those coming to the UK without a job.In addition this Government has tightened up access to benefits, clamped down on more than 850 bogus colleges and increased the level of English required to come and stay here. The Immigration Act 2014 is making made it much tougher for illegal immigrants to remain in the UK by restricting their access to work, housing, benefits, healthcare, bank accounts and driving licences.As a result of these changes, family visas granted are down by a third compared to the year ending September 2010 and student visas granted are down by over a quarter. Since July we have revoked over 5,000 driving licences and removed more than 500 foreign criminals since July 2014 under the new non-suspensive powers. These changes have demonstrated that it is possible to reform and reduce immigration.Net migration from within the EU has doubled since 2010. That is why, as the Prime Minister has said, we will continue the reforms this Government has introduced to crack down on the abuse of free movement, continue the reforms this Government has introduced on access to benefits, and insist that there are new arrangements in place for future Member States to prevent a repeat of the mass migration that resulted from the previous Government’s failure to impose robust transitional controls in 2004.

Proceeds of Crime

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the detection rate of criminal and illicit funds reaching the United Kingdom.

Lord Bates: In 2013, the Economic Crime Command of the National Crime Agency was established to lead, co-ordinate and support the national law enforcement response to money laundering. This involves working with the financial sector, to improve information sharing arrangements with law enforcement agencies to aid the fight against money laundering. It also involves working with the Law Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority and law enforcement partners to increase legal professionals’ awareness of money laundering risks.The National Crime Agency, in its 2014 National Strategic Assessment, has assessed the overall scale of international money laundering through UK banks and their overseas subsidiaries, although there is no reliable estimate of the detection rate of illicit funds.The Government is committed to protecting the integrity of our financial system and ensuring that the UK is a hostile environment for illicit funds. To that end, the Government has introduced a number of measures to tackle the movement of illicit funds into the UK.In addition, the UK is taking forward world-leading reform to improve corporate transparency and working hard to encourage others to take equally ambitious action. We have committed to implement a publicly accessible register of information on the individuals that own and control UK companies. Reform is being taken forward through the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill and we intend to introduce the register in 2016.

Asylum: Finance

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people received support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 in the last year for which they have records, broken down by nationality.

Lord Bates: At the end of 2014, there were 4,994 failed asylum seekers and their dependants receiving support under Section 4.The figures provided in the table are a subset of latest statistics published in the Immigration Statistics Release by the Home Office, in Table as_18_q "Asylum seekers in receipt of Section 4 or Section 98 support, and decisions to grant Section 4 support as at the end of the quarter", available from the link below.The Home Office publishes quarterly and annual statistics on people receiving support within the Immigration Statistics release. A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics October – December 2014 is available fromhttps://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office/series/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release and will be placed in the Library of the House  Failed asylum seekers and their dependants in receipt of Section 4 support, by nationality as at the end of 2014Country of nationalityTotal supported under Section 4Afghanistan123Albania29Algeria90Angola30Armenia4Azerbaijan5Bahrain1Bangladesh18Barbados1Belarus2Benin3Botswana4Brazil1Burkina1Burma6Burundi8Cameroon32Chad3China885Congo45Congo (Democratic Republic)103Cuba1Djibouti1Dominica1Egypt24Eritrea266Ethiopia110Gambia, The57Georgia6Ghana12Guinea44Guinea-Bissau4Haiti1India31Iran869Iraq375Ivory Coast45Jamaica17Kenya37Kosovo2Kuwait20Latvia1Lebanon5Lesotho2Liberia25Libya59Macedonia3Malawi17Malaysia2Mali3Mauritania3Mauritius10Mexico3Moldova2Mongolia2Morocco13Namibia5Nigeria144Korea (North)4Pakistan231Occupied Palestinian Territories68Philippines3Russia7Rwanda12Saudi Arabia3Senegal15Serbia1Sierra Leone52Singapore1Somalia129South Africa40Sri Lanka108St. Vincent and the Grenadines1Stateless2Sudan84Swaziland2Syria23Tanzania4Thailand1Togo5Trinidad And Tobago2Tunisia5Turkey12Uganda52Ukraine7Venezuela1Vietnam27Western Sahara3Yemen13Former Yugoslavia1Zambia3Zimbabwe425Other and unknown31Total4,994  



PQ HL5545 Table
(Word Document, 90.5 KB)

Asylum: Finance

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people are currently in receipt of support under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 because they are unable to leave the United Kingdom by reason of a physical impediment.

Lord Bates: There are 1188 people who are currently in receipt of section 4 support that are recorded as having a physical impediment.

Heathrow Airport

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the average number of passengers per hour passing through a single manned Border Agency control point at Heathrow Terminal 3 at peak times, and how that rate compares with the flow through a single electronic passport point at the same terminal at the same time.

Lord Bates: UK Border Agency was abolished in March 2013.It is not possible to readily provide a direct like for like comparison of the average number of passengers passing through a single manned control compared to the average number passing through an ePassport (electronic) gate at peak times.One assistant Border Force Officer is able to monitor a bank of five ePassport Gates, dealing with a greater volume of passengers, compared to one Border Force Officer operating a single manual desk.Border Force has a programme in place to roll out new and faster ePassport gates at key UK ports including Heathrow. This will allow Border Force to deal with an increased number of passengers effectively and efficiently whilst maintaining border security.

Domestic Violence Protection Orders

Baroness Gale: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their report A call to end violence against women and girls, Progress report 2010–2015, published in March, which states "Since Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) were introduced over 2,500 have been put in place across 39 forces", whether they will publish the names of the 39 police forces which have introduced DVPOs in their police force areas and the names of the four police forces which have not introduced DVPOs in their areas.

Lord Bates: Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPOs) were rolled out nationally in March 2014. All forces are now operating this scheme.As stated in the Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls Progress Report published in March 2015, to date over 2500 DVPOs are currently in place. This is based on information submitted to the Home Office as part of a review currently taking place to look at the implementation of DVPOs and the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (Clare’s Law). At the time that the Progress Report was published, 39 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales had provided data. All data and findings from the review will be published on Gov.uk once the review process is complete.

Electronic Surveillance

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the tasks undertaken by the PRISM surveillance programme.

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what contact, if any, they have had with the government of the United States about the activities of the PRISM surveillance programme.

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the judgment of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in the case of Liberty and Others of 6 February, whether the PRISM surveillance programme is supported in any way by Her Majesty's Government; if so, when the support started; and what form the support has taken.

Lord Bates: It has been the long standing policy of successive governments not to comment on intelligence matters. The Investigatory Powers Tribunal made clear in its judgment of 6 February that the regime for making requests for interception via the US National Security Agency's PRISM programme is lawful and human rights compliant.

Ministers of Religion

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Christian street preachers have been (1) arrested and questioned, (2) charged with an offence, and (3) convicted, in each year from 2010; why Christian preaching in public may be deemed offensive; whether similar measures are applied to other religions; and if so, whether they will provide comparable statistics.

Lord Bates: The Home Office does not hold information on arrests and convictions in relation to Christian or other religious preachers.We have a proud history in this country of allowing free speech. Speakers must stay within the law and the police have comprehensive powers to take action against those who glorify terrorism or stir up hatred on the grounds of race, religion or sexual orientation. The right to free speech must be balanced with the right of others to not be caused harassment, alarm or distress.The law provides equal protection for all ethnic and religious groups, and applies to crimes that are committed both offline and online, including through social media.

Extradition

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the compliance of United Kingdom extradition procedures with human rights regulations.

Lord Bates: The United Kingdom’s extradition legislation has a number of safeguards in place to ensure that extradition would not result in a person suffering treatment which would be in breach of their human rights.In determining whether to order extradition the District Judge must be satisfied that the person’s extradition is compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998 as set out in section 21 (Part 1) and section 87 (Part 2) of the Extradition Act 2003 (the 2003 Act).In Part 2 of the 2003 Act, particular safeguards ensure that people are not extradited and suffer a breach of their human rights. The District Judge must decide whether any of the statutory bars to extradition apply. These bars include whether an extradition request was made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing the person on account of his race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or political opinion. Furthermore, the forum bar, introduced in the Crime and Courts Act 2013, sets out that if a substantial measure of the offence in question was performed in the UK, extradition must be barred.In addition, in ordering extradition, the Secretary of State must consider whether extradition is prohibited because he or she could face the death penalty. This is an absolute prohibition and may require a written assurance from the requesting state that the death penalty will not be imposed, or will not be carried out, if imposed.Finally, a person may raise human rights on appeal, with at present, a right to appeal to the High Court and on to the Supreme Court. There is also the possibility of human rights appeals being brought late under section 108 of the 2003 Act.

Association of Chief Police Officers

The Earl of Lytton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their plans for the future of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO); what they consider to be the assets of ACPO and functions hitherto exercised by its subsidiary and affiliated companies; and what is to happen to those assets and operations.

Lord Bates: Police and Crime Commissioners, with Chief Officers, are driving work to close down the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and establish a new body, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). The intention is for ACPO to close on 31 March 2015 and for the NPCC to take over responsibility for coordination and leadership of operational policing at the national level from 1 April.The functions of the NPCC will be:• Co-ordination of national operations including defining, monitoring and testing force contributions to the Strategic Policing Requirement.• Command of counter terrorism operations and delivery of counter terrorist policing through the national network as set out in the Section 22A agreement.• Co-ordination of the national police response to national emergencies and the mobilisation of resources across force borders and internationally.• National operational implementation of standards and policy as set by the College of Policing and Government.• Working with the College, development of joint national approaches on criminal justice, value for money, service transformation, information management, performance management and technology.• Working with the College (where appropriate), development of joint national approaches to staff and human resource issues (including misconduct and discipline) in line with Chief Constables’ responsibilities as employers.Unlike ACPO, the NPCC will not be a company limited by guarantee. Instead, the NPCC will be a collaboration of police forces, hosted by the Metropolitan Police Service. Membership will be held by forces as opposed to individual members. The assets formerly held by ACPO are being assessed as part of dissolving the company.The functions carried out by national units that formerly sat under ACPO are also being transferred to new arrangements. They will be hosted by an individual force or other body on behalf of all forces. For example, ACPO’s Criminal Records Office (ACRO) will be hosted by Hampshire Constabulary.

Bail

Baroness Smith of Basildon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Browning on 12 July 2011 (HL Deb, col 609), what consultation on matters relating to bail and the conditions that apply has taken place to date.

Lord Bates: The College of Policing consulted between 27 March and 21 July 2014 on a set of ‘bail management principles’ that the police had introduced in 2013. The results of that consultation were published by the College on 11 December 2014 and are available on its website www.college.police.uk.Alongside these improvements in the management of pre-charge bail, my Right Honourable Friend the Home Secretary considered that it would also be appropriate to introduce statutory time limits. As a result, the Home Office published a consultation on this on 18 December 2014, which closed on 8 February and is available on the gov.uk website. We are currently considering the 300 responses to the consultation and hope to publish the Government’s response, including proposals for legislation, shortly.

South Yorkshire Police

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Bates on 3 March (HL Deb, col 92), and the recent reports concerning South Yorkshire Police and child exploitation cases in Sheffield, whether they will set up an independent inquiry into South Yorkshire Police.

Lord Bates: The responsibility for securing an efficient and effective police force, and for holding chief constables to account for the running of their force, falls to the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for that force area. As part of that responsibility, it will be for the PCC to decide whether they wish to seek advice and assurances from independent experts. On Friday 13 March, South Yorkshire PCC Alan Billings announced his intention to commission a ‘Casey-like inspection'.The Government is taking action to address the failures to protect children from this despicable crime, which we have seen in areas such as Rotherham, Oxford and Rochale. As part of a major report, published on 3 March, we designated child sexual abuse as a national threat within the Strategic Policing Requirement, so that this crime is prioritised by every police force, and announced a new system of multi-agency inspections by Ofsted, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and the Care Quality Commission, which will begin in 2015/16.

Police: Vehicles

Lord Blencathra: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many 4x4 sports utility vehicles and off-road vehicles are owned by police forces in England and Wales; whether they require police forces to submit a detailed business case for the purchase of additional 4x4 sports utility vehicles and off-road vehicles; and if not, why not.

Lord Bates: Data on the number of vehicles possessed by police forces is not collected by the Home Office. Decisions about the most effective use of available resources, including in relation to the purchase of vehicles, are a matter for Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables locally, tailored to the needs of the local community.

Licensing Laws

Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to review their decision not to allow local councils to set their own local alcohol licensing fees, as provided in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, before the general election.

Lord Bates: The Government published its response to the consultation on locally-set fees on 26 February this year. Having carefully considered the concerns of the licensed trade and the evidence provided by local government, the Government has decided not to proceed with the implementation of locally-set fees at this time, but to instead invite the Local Government Association to provide better evidence of licensing authorities’ costs. There are no plans to review this decision before the General Election.

Cabinet Office

Electoral Register: Young People

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the percentage of attainers registered to vote.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The Electoral Commission (EC) published its analysis of the electoral registers in England and Wales as at 1 December 2014 on 24 February. This includes an assessment of attainer registration. Their report can be found here:http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/182375/Analysis-of-the-December-2014-electoral-registers-in-England-and-Wales.pdf The Government is investing over £14 million aimed at maximising voter registration. This includes a focus on targeting new attainers with organisations such as UK Youth and British Youth Council receiving funding to help increase registration levels among this group. The EC's awareness campaign for the elections on 7 May will include a focus on reaching attainers.

General Election 2015

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they are aware of for international bodies to send election observation missions to the United Kingdom during the forthcoming General Election.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: As a participating State of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the UK Government invites the OSCE to send observers to UK Parliamentary general elections and has done so for the General Election on 7 May. OSCE will inform us who they will send closer to the time. The Electoral Commission also publishes a list of those who have been accredited as observers, who do not need to be formally invited or to notify the Government of their attendance at UK elections.

Electoral Register: Older People

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of risk that the changes in electoral registration will disproportionately affect elderly people living in sheltered housing and senior citizens' homes.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: A full impact assessment of Individual Electoral Registration (IER), which included an assessment of the effect of IER on the elderly, disabled or those in care, has been carried out. Local Electoral Registration Officers are responsible for contacting all eligible electors in their areas to ask them to register to vote. Cabinet Office has made £14m available over the last two financial years to support their activity locally to improve voter registration levels.